Unraveling the genetics of atherosclerosis: implications for diagnosis and treatment.

The hereditary aspect of atherosclerosis has been known for some time in clinical medicine. Over the past three decades, a great deal of research has focused on defining the genetic component of this disease with the hopes that detailed knowledge of the genes and gene variants will lead to improvements in the diagnosis and treatment. This article reviews the different approaches for studying the genetics of atherosclerosis and the potential for using the results in clinical practice.